#scriptgenetics

[cripplecharacters]

do you happen to know of any tumblrs that do what you do, but for other... types(?) of people? i'm struggling to find an active LGBT writing guide blog specifically at the moment but it'd be nice to have a masterlist of any blog of this variety, since tumblr's search is remissfully unhelpful..! tysm

Hi lovely asker!

So there used to be a whole lot of blogs that were labeled "Scriptx" blogs and of course others too. Good thing is a lot of them were archived! So while they're not open for new questions you can still use the search and use the information provided to other asks they answered. So I'm gonna tag the other active blogs or the ones that are just on hiatus and then I'm gonna link all the archived ones!

Active:

@yourbookcouldbegayer

@scriptlgbt

@fuckyeahasexual

@writingquestionsanswered

@scriptmedic

@blindbeta

@askablindperson

@writingwithcolor

@creatingblackcharacters

@howtofightwrite

@script-a-world

@scriptstructure

Not active/Archived:

scriptservicedogs-blog

actuallyservicedogs

scriptshrink

scripttorture

scriptveterinarian

scriptautistic

asexualadvice

scripttraumasurvivors

scriptpharmacist-blog

scriptpolitics

scriptpublishingindustry

scriptfirefighter

writenavy

scriptwitchcraft

scripthacker

scriptcriminaljustice

scriptgenetics

scriptflorist

scriptlawyer-blog

scriptastronomer

scriptchemist

scriptmyth

scriptspoonie

scriptkink

scriptequestrian-blog

scriptsocialwork

scriptbrainscientist

fantasticallyfactualforensics

scriptaccountant

scriptballerina

scripthistory

scriptlibrarian

scripteconomist

scripteducator

scriptlinguist-blog

I briefly scrolled through a few of these that I personally wasn't aware of but I can't vet and scroll through each and every individual blog in its entirety because well it would take a very very long time. Also of the active blogs some don't have their ask box open and/or some are on small hiatus'. Please be respectful of that, pretty please, everyone puts in a lot of time and effort and yeah.

~ Mod Virus 🌸

[scriptgenetics]

On this blog

Woah.

First I want to say woah. Thank you all for following me, for your support, for your questions, and for your patience. I’m so happy you all want to learn more about genetics and represent better science in your writing! 

When I started this blog I had a lot of things in mind to do with it, and I haven’t been successful with really any of those. Shortly after I started this blog, I started going through some serious health issues, and it’s gotten to the point where I’m having trouble keeping up with most things in my real-world daily life, let alone this blog that’s exploded to nearly 2,000 followers.

I’m so proud of the fact that you all are interested in this blog and I want to keep it going! However, I know that I’m not the right person to be running it, at least not singlehandedly. So, with that, if you’re interested in modding or running the blog, please contact script.acct2017@gmail.com with a little bit about yourself, your experience in genetics, and why you’re interested!

Keep writing, and keep learning!

[scriptfeature]

Hi, is scriptgenetics on hiatus or permanently inactive? I haven't​ seen anything about them but they haven't posted in well over a month :/

Apologies for getting back to this late, but yes, @scriptgenetics is on hiatus. 

[writingquestionsanswered]

Any good resources for writing medically accurate fiction? x

The ScriptX blogs, though almost entirely inactive, are great resources if you will take the time to read through answered asks and previous posts:

@scriptmedic @scriptgenetics @scriptshrink @scriptpharmacist @scriptbrainscientist

Other than that, Googling your specific questions/interests is a good bet for lots of helpful resources. You can also try searching on tumblr or adding "tumblr" to your Google searches to see if dedicated guides or posts come up. :)

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

Learn more about WQA

Visit my Master List of Top Posts

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[scriptautistic]

The ScriptX family as of 01/01/2018

Have writing questions, but don’t know who to ask? Check out the ScriptX family of blogs, all of whom provide detailed writing advice on a huge variety of topics!

First, ScriptFeature shares some of the best posts from the ScriptX blogs, as well as giving updates and announcements about the family: @scriptfeature

The rest of the blogs are in alphabetical order in two groups, with active blogs first, and inactive/archived blogs second. If you are looking for something in particular, try searching using Ctrl+F or ⌘+F

Active:

Accountant: @scriptaccountant (Accounting)

Autistic: @scriptautistic (Autistic characters)

Ballerina: @scriptballerina (Ballet and dance)

Canuck: @scriptcanuck (Everything Canadian)

Chemist: @scriptchemist (Chemistry and chemical laboratories)

Criminal justice: @scriptcriminaljustice (Criminal justice system, including court procedures and criminal investigations)

Equestrian: @scriptequestrian (Horseback riding)

Firefighter: @scriptfirefighter (Firefighting, including fire science and safety, forced entry, rescue, HazMat and related topics)

Florist: @scriptflorist (Flowers, florists and flower shops)

Foodie: @scriptfoodie (Food and drink)

Genetics: @scriptgenetics (Genetics and evolutionary biology)

German: @scriptgerman (Everything German)

Hacker: @scripthacker (Data retrieval, steganography, cryptography, white hat hacking, and general purpose computing)

History: @scripthistory (History) [on hiatus]

LGBT: @scriptlgbt (LGBTQ+ characters, community, and issues)

Librarian: @scriptlibrarian (Librarians and libraries)

Medic: @scriptmedic (The original! Medicine, human anatomy/physiology, hospitals, EMTs and paramedics)

Myth: @scriptmyth (Mythology and folklore from around the world)

Pastor: @scriptpastor (Religion and people of faith)

Sailor: @scriptsailor (Navy, sailors and nautical history)

Script a world: @script-a-world (Worldbuilding for science fiction and fantasy)

Script structure: @scriptstructure (Story structure, narrative and themes)

Shrink: @scriptshrink (Clinical psychology, psychiatry, therapy and therapists)

Sociology: @scriptsociology (Social sciences applied to world building)

Spoonie: @scriptspoonie (Characters with chronic illness, disability)

Torture: @scripttorture (Torture methods, torture victims, and torturers throughout history)

Trauma Survivors: @scripttraumasurvivors (Writing survivors of psychological trauma)

Veterinarian: @scriptveterinarian (Veterinary medicine for animals domesticated, wild and occasiontally fantastical)

Witchcraft: @scriptwitchcraft (Witchcraft)

Archived/Inactive: These blogs are not currently active but are still a useful resource when researching your stories

Astronomer: @scriptastronomer (Astronomy)

Brain Scientist: @scriptbrainscientist (Neurology) [ARCHIVED]

Brit: @scriptbrit (United Kingdom) [ARCHIVED]

Economist: @scripteconomist (Ecomonics) [ARCHIVED]

Educator: @scripteducator (Schools and teachers)

Kink: @scriptkink (Sex and sexuality)

Lawyer: @scriptlawyer (Legal stuff)

Linguist: @scriptlinguist (Linguistics)

Pharmacist: @scriptpharmacist (Pharmacies and pharmaceuticals)

Politics: @scriptpolitics (Politics, world-building political systems, and international relations) [ARCHIVED]

Publishing industry: @scriptpublishingindustry (Publishing industry, including writers, editors etc)

Service Dogs: @scriptservicedogs (Service dogs, emotional support animals, and therapy dogs)

Social work: @scriptsocialwork (Social workers and the field of social services) [ARCHIVED]

To get the most up-to-date version of this list, be sure to check this link here:  scriptshrink.tumblr.com/scriptfamily

Are you an expert in a topic? Interested in joining the ScriptX family? Apply here!

[script-a-world]

Hello ! I'm trying to imagine a world where sexe and gender doesn't matter and/or is very fluent, or there are multiple genders and you just need two different genders to make a baby. I know I want flexibility on the biological and social sides (it's to put a contrats, multiple worlds and all that) but I have trouble grasping the concept and I suck with biology and sociology. Can you give me some lead to work with ? Thank you :)

It’s not quite what you’re thinking of, but Mass Effect’s Asari race may be a good thinking point. They’re a single “sex” species who can mate with their own species or with another species. For this ask though, we’re going to suggest you try @scriptgenetics and @scriptsociology for the answers you’re looking for.

[scriptshrink]

The ScriptX family as of 5/10/17

Have writing questions, but don’t know who to ask? Check out the ScriptX family of blogs, all of whom provide detailed writing advice on a huge variety of topics!

First, the Fascinating Feature, where you can get the best posts of all the ScriptX blogs, as well as updates and announcements about the family: @scriptfeature

The Matriarch of Medicine: @scriptmedic  The Astonishing Astronomer: @scriptastronomer The Caustic Chemists: @scriptchemist The Helpful Hacker: @scripthacker

The Saintly Social Worker: @scriptsocialwork The Shrewd Shrink: @scriptshrink  The Terrific Trauma Survivors: @scripttraumasurvivors The Tactful Torturer: @scripttorture

The Eclectic Economist: @scripteconomist  The Harmonious Historians: @scripthistory  The Laudable Linguist: @scriptlinguist  The Plucky Politicians: @scriptpolitics

The Amazing Accountant: @scriptaccountant The Breathtaking Ballerina: @scriptballerina The Fearless Firefighter: @scriptfirefighter The Fair Florists: @scriptflorist The Learned Librarian: @scriptlibrarian The Patient Pastor: @scriptpastor The Powerful Publishers: @scriptpublishingindustry The Sincere Sailor: @scriptsailor The Splendid Soldier: @scriptsoldier

The Autistic Answerers: @scriptautistic The Radiant Rainbows: @scriptlgbt The Shining Spoonies: @scriptspoonie The Wondrous Witches: @scriptwitchcraft

The Valiant Veterinarian: @scriptveterinarian The Eager Equestrians: @scriptequestrian

The Audacious Australian: @scriptaussie The Beautiful Brits: @scriptbrit The Charming Canadian: @scriptcanuck The Germane German: @scriptgerman

The Wonderful World-builders: @script-a-world The Stupendous Structurer: @scriptstructure

Inactive / archived blogs:

The Brilliant Brain Scientists: @scriptbrainscientist The Edified Educator: @scripteducator The Fantastic Foodie: @scriptfoodie The Gentle Geneticist: @scriptgenetics The Knowledgeable Kinkster: @scriptkink The Lively Lawyer: @scriptlawyer The Majestic Mythologists: @scriptmyth  The Phenomenal Pharmacist: @scriptpharmacist The Stalwart Service Dogs: @scriptservicedogs

This list is current as of 5/10/17!

The changes are:

@scripttraumasurvivors and @scriptpastor have joined the family!

Scriptecology has decided to leave the family and is now located at @flukedoesecology. We wish her well in her future endeavors.

Several blogs have gone inactive. 

To get the most up-to-date version of this list, be sure to check this link here: scriptshrink.tumblr.com/scriptfamily

Are you an expert in a topic? Interested in joining the ScriptX family? Apply here!

[scriptastronomer]

how does the type of star + the light it emits affect what kind of plant grows on its orbiting planet? i read somewhere that the trappist-1 star gives off a red/ orange light and therefore the plants would grow black?

Darn good question! Once we find a planet with different types of plants under a different type of star, we’ll have an answer. :-)Until then, all we can do is make some educated guesses.

Plants under a dim red sun (or any sun, actually) would want to absorb as much energy as possible since the red wavelengths are the low-energy side of the spectrum. Black absorbs all visible wavelengths, and so, logically, would be the most efficient color to be.

But that assumption doesn't always work out. Evolution doesn’t choose for the ‘most efficient’ solution, it chooses for the ‘best for now’ solution.

Our Sun puts out most energy in the yellow-green wavelengths, so you’d expect that Earth plants might be reddish or black, absorbing all the higher-energy yellows and greens and blues. But they aren’t.

Enter our green friend, chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll is a comparatively poor absorber of green light - which seems counter-intuitive. Why would plants shun much of the higher energy green light (they reflect much of it - which is why plants are green)? Shouldn't they be red or yellow in order to absorb greens and blues, which are of higher energy?

Plants use chlorophyll (instead of a chemical that absorbs greens better) for a very simple reason - it works ‘good enough.’

So, maybe plants under a dim red sun will be black. Or they may be green, as chlorophyll works to absorb those reds really well. Or they may be some other color because it works ‘good enough’ for the plants in that ecosystem.

We just don’t know yet. Which means any color you want plants on a planet to be would probably be a believable choice.

For more information, you might want to ask @scriptecology, @scriptchemist, or @scriptgenetics. They know more than me about plants.

[scriptmedic]

Hi! I'm writing a story where people develop abilities through their genetics. I was wondering if it would be realistic for the ability to be expressed in a recessive gene?

Hey there!

First off, I really shouldturf this to my friend @scriptgenetics (who has the most adorable logo ever), but this ask struck my fancy, and I’m inthe mood to touch on scifi a little bit.

It’s worth revisiting the Rule of Reality here (and there’sa post on just what that means going up later today!)

I’m not exactly clear on what you meant by “develop[ing]abilities through their genetics.” I assume you’re talking about superpowers,but I’m not sure if you’re talking about someone being born with theirabilities (ie they can levitate things – very badly – from the cradle and getbetter as they grow older), or if you’re talking about genetic modificationlater in life that “unlocks” their abilities. (This is accomplished in moststories with “hand wavey radiation goodness,” but a virus to implant genes intoDNA is a much more interesting and potentially realistic cause.)

When you say “I was wondering if it would be realistic forthe ability to be expressed in a recessive gene?” you’re implying the former –that the traits are inherent, that they’re passed down from parents tochildren. So that’s what I’m going to talk about!

As a quick basic genetics lesson, a recessive gene requires 2 copies (one from each parent) to expressitself. The gene for blue eyes is recessive; to have blue eyes both parentsmust have at least one copy of the gene, and the child must inherit both. (Yes,that means two brown-eyed people can have a blue-eyed baby, because the brown allele is dominant to blue; someone with both will have brown eyes.)

Similarly, both parents could be “normal” – withoutabilities – but the offspring could still gain them.

I think powers would almost have to be genetically recessive, unless you wanted your averageeveryday businesswoman to be flying to work with her latte (or whatever abilityyou describe).

Keep in mind, though, genes encode proteins, and a singleprotein being expressed won’t be enough to cause whatever ability you’rethinking of. You’d need multiple genes working together to achieve most thingsthat we associate with “abilities”. So if you want your character to be the “onlyone”, they could be a perfect storm of mutations X, Y, Q and L that allow them to [effects].

Ultimately, though – and this traces back to the Rule ofReality – as long as you’re consistent in how you handle the ability for powersto come into being, you can go with a lot of things. Just establish the rules –preferably on paper – of how they work and where they come from, and then don’t deviate from it. Disbelief can besuspended so long as the rules – however weird – aren’t broken.

I hope this helped!

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

disclaimer    

[scriptveterinarian]

Hi! I have a quick question about logic. It's kinda stupid,and may not apply to this blog, but what would be the effects of adding and fusing animal DNA to a human? Are there specific places that you'd try to add it to encourage animalistic tendencies in the human? If this worked, what tendencies might a person present if they were fused with a badger? (if this doesn't apply here, would you mind pointing me in the right direction?) thanks so much have a great day!

Behavior is a complex mess, a combination of learned and innate, and it can be difficult to differentiate the two in intelligent organisms. Learned behavior is a result of how the organism interacts with its environment, so any physical traits that have changed how a humanoid perceives its environment will change its behavior. For examples about how a humanoid with enhanced senses might interact with their environment I’d recommend you pop over to @scriptautistic and go through their masterposts, particularly about sensory differences.

Badgers have excellent hearing compared to humans, and this will likely change their behavior in a human-orientated world. If they are visibly different this will also change their behavior, because human populations on the whole are cruel to people who are ‘other’ and we learn when treated that way.

A being also learns how to use their body in space, and behavior will also be influenced by how a body actually moves. Eg, if they have claws, they will learn how to use them.

It you’re asking about where in the genetic code you’re adding genes, I don’t have many answers for you and you might need to pop over to @scriptgenetics for a moment. My understanding is that you can insert a gene more or less anywhere on an autosome, so long as it’s not breaking up a pre-existing gene sequence of any type. You will need to add many, many genes to make a viable badger-human hybrid, and you may need to delete some human genes that would have otherwise overridden the badger ones, so you have your work cut out for you.

[musicprompts]

Hey I have knowledge on this as an actual redhead!!!

Okay, so yeah it is actually possible for red hair to skip several generations because it’s a weird recessive gene that needs to be very specific about that kind of thing.

I’ll use myself as an example because I don’t know many other redheads.

My red hair is inherited from my grandmother. Not that long ago, but it’s only one of my grandmothers, and that’s on my dad’s side. Red hair = fucking weird gene.

Scientifically, you would need at least two people carrying the red head genetics - the person being married and the person marrying into the family, no matter how far back it is.

Like, redheads are weird.

TLDR - yes you can do it because being a redhead is weird and it’s one of those scientific outliers people talk about occasionally.

I'm trying to figure out how to give my character red hair when the only family member to share that trait was a distant ancestor. How realistic/likely is it for a recessive trait like red hair to survive multiple generations? I feel like I'd need at least one other person outside of the family who carries the gene even if they don't express it to marry into the family for red hair to show up generations later in a kid.

Hello! So the scenario you described where you would need to have another carrier marry into the family is definitely one possibility, and like I’ve talked about before, recessive genes are sneaky, so it’s fairly likely that someone could marry in with that trait without expressing it themselves.

The other possibility is random mutation- remember, these gene variants came from somewhere (and that somewhere is random mutation many generations ago), so it is well within the realm of possibility that the mutation could happen again.

Thanks for your question!

[scriptfeature]

Do you know what's going on with Super Script and ScriptGenetics? They don't seem to be active anymore...

@scriptgenetics is working on some personal stuff behind the scenes, but they are trying. As for @super--script , they are currently not part of the official scriptX family. @scriptshrink has a current list here, and the list is also on the @scriptmedic blog over this way including “script cousins” and friends of the family

Best of luck to you with your story!

[altpapier]

I just discovered a super helpful resource for all my people doing research while developing realistic story settings/character details/places in the story/etc!

These accounts answer every question about their respective field, e.g. professions, countries or subjects:

@scriptpharmacist @scriptastronomer @scriptsoldier @scriptlawyer @scriptflorist @scriptmedic @scripthistory @scriptchemist @scriptlibrarian @scriptlgbt @scriptfoodie @scriptveterinarian @scriptshrink @scriptaussie @scriptbrit @scriptbrainscientist @scriptgenetics @scriptmyth @scripthacker

And a blog that features several script blogs:

@scriptfeature

(There are much more, feel free to message me if you have a script anything blog and I’ll add you to the list!)

[writingguide1]

Need help that Google just can’t give?

Try some of these great blogs! (Just click the blog name--they’re linked!)

Accounting/Finance: ScriptAccountant

Animals/Veterinary Science: ScriptVeterinarian

Astronomy: ScriptAstronomer

Autism/Autistic Characters: ScriptAutistic (run by three fabulous autistic bloggers)

Ballet/Dance: ScriptBallerina (currently inactive)

Books/Libraries: ScriptLibrarian

Britain: ScriptBrit (this blog has been indefinitely archived and is no longer taking asks, but it’s still a great resource!)

Chemistry: ScriptChemist

Criminal Justice: ScriptCriminalJustice

Ecology/Earth: FlukeDoesEcology

Economics: ScriptEconomist

Fire/Firefighting: ScriptFirefighter

Flowers: ScriptFlorist

Forensics: FantasticallyFactualForensics

Genetics: ScriptGenetics

Germany: ScriptGerman

History: ScriptHistory

Horses/Equestrianism: ScriptEquestrian

Islam/Muslim Characters: This great post from Writing With Color

Law/Court: ScriptLawyer (though they are based in British Columbia, so I’m not sure if they’re informed on American law for the American writers out there)

LGBT: ScriptLGBT

Linguistics/Language: ScriptLinguist (especially great for high fantasy writers who are developing languages for their world building)

Medical: ScriptMedic

Medicine/Pharmaceuticals: ScriptPharmacist

Military: TranscriptTroopers

Mythology: ScriptMyth

Ocean/Navy: ScriptSailor

Religion/Religious Leaders: ScriptPastor (seems to be geared towards Christian religions)

People of Color: WritingWithColor (tw: discussion of stereotypes, microaggressions, etc; I am constantly visiting this blog; currently not taking asks)

Politics: ScriptPolitics

Psychology: ScriptShrink

Service Dogs: ScriptServiceDogs

Sociology: ScriptSociology

Stereotypes: This cool masterlist from Writing With Color

Tech/Hacking: ScriptHacker

Torture: ScriptTorture (tw: graphic torture explanations, etc.)

Trauma Survivors: ScriptTraumaSurvivors (tw; a lot of triggers are going to be present on this blog, so be cautious, and understand that the experience can be different for everyone)

Wicca: MoonLightAcademy or ScriptWitchcraft

Please be respectful with your asks! If you can easily Google something, try that first. Also be aware that some of these blogs receive a lot of asks and may not respond immediately. These are all blogs written specifically for the use of writers and are not meant to help you with real-life issues (I.E. ScriptSociology specifically states that they cannot help with real-life social work).

I haven’t personally spent a lot of time at all of these blogs, so if you find them highly problematic or inaccurate, please let me know! 

[script-a-world]

Yes. How would I describe a post apocalypse world that was destroyed by nuclear war like describing mutated flowers and animals

Since you came back with a specific question, we’ve got some comments for you. (We’ll keep working on a post-apoc master post as well.)

Werew: I don't know how much background knowledge you have on this, and I don't have a lot myself. However, be aware that the most common result of exposure to prolonged radiation in animals is cancer and death. The vast majority of mutations in animals are harmful or neutral, because you have to remember that they're literally just errors in a pretty complex and nuanced code. Therefore, a lot of the descriptions are going to depend on how long it has been since the apocalypse. If it's recent, there won't have been time for animals to change much in ways that are both visible and not lethal.

For questions about how radiation works on DNA, you should head on over to @scriptgenetics! This is more in their field than ours. 

However, if you already know what you want your plants and animals to look like and are just trying to figure out how to describe them, there are a few approaches that you could take: 

1) If your narration is not first person, not third person limited, or you're okay with playing loosely with either of those, you can just describe the things in relation to what they used to look like. "It looked a lot like a gray squirrel used to, but it had eerie yellow eyes, and the fur on its tail was shorter, so to [charactername] it seemed to recall a demonic rat".

2) If you mostly need the animals and plants in there for flavor and it's not important that the reader know what they are (or were), then you can just give them basic names and/or descriptions and let the reader try to decide what they might be. Most readers will just roll with this, even if they can't figure out exactly what you're describing. "As they walked through the forest, a chua glared down at them from a tree with yellow eyes and chattered, baring angry rodent teeth and flicking its sparsely tufted tail rapidly" (note, don't use the word chua. It's a rodent-like alien from the game Wildstar and it might be copyrighted or something, I don't really know).

3) If it is important to the narrative that the reader understand that what they're reading about is a mutated squirrel, you might want to have the characters somehow discover what squirrels used to be like, and make the connection that the thing they know used to be a squirrel and has only started existing since the apocalypse. 

 4) If #1 and #3 won't work with your story, but you want more precision than #2 offers, and it isn't important to the narrative to have the things correctly identified, then consider why you want them identified. Keep in mind that adding in a lot more description than is actually needed for the story can often bore readers.

MareeB: Ok, so you're coming to us for logical world building. Honestly mutated plant and animal life makes no sense in a post nuclear apocalypse. But if we back step a little...If this is a thing you want to show, then ok, how about one of the triggers of this apocalypse is genetics research? Scientists can absolutely create mutated creatures, of course they aren't stable, but obviously as a fiction writer you can make a leap.

Constablewrites: Or you could go the route of the nuclear attack unleashed something supernatural/magic that did the actual mutating part. On its own, the nuclear-mutated monster is sort of a discredited trope, simply because we understand the science behind that process much better than in the '50s heyday of such imagery. But if you're incorporating an element that we'd have no way of understanding, you'd have a lot more room to play.It's one of those things that it's not that you can't do it, but anyone who has even a passing knowledge of the subject is going to look at you sideways, and that's a good way to break trust with your reader. So it would serve you well to either account for that, or to make it clear from the tone of your story that you're not going for plausibility.

Miri: As with any writing, a good thing to do is to read in the realm you want to write. See how other authors are presenting it and learn from them. Or perhaps play a game like Fallout and have a look around to see what things exist there and practice how you’d describe the things you find until you’re happy with the result. 

[scriptgenetics]

A new mod enters

As you may have seen in a previous post, the creator of scriptgenetics has been having some trouble keeping up with this blog. A couple of weeks ago, I reached to offer my services as a potential new mod for this blog, get through some of the asks and get the ball rolling again on answering some of your most burning genetics questions.

So, hi! I’m emdee! A genetics major bearing gifts of knowledge, willing to venture into the depths of my brain (and the internet) to provide you with the answers you are hunting for.

A couple of things about my own background, and the questions that I am going to be best equipped to answer:

Genetics is a far-reaching and widely varied field, and while I have plenty of thoughts on some areas, I am not an expert in all. I work in a genetics lab, so I can answer any and all questions about what it’s like to work in private industry and how modern labs function. My current job requires that I know a lot about heredity, genotyping, cell biology and molecular biology/genetics. I also have a background in physiology, biochemistry, and developmental biology.

“Hey emdee”, you might be thinking to yourself, “I came here to get answers, not get more questions. What does that all mean?” Well, basically what it means is that I’m going to be very good at answering questions such as: “I have X trait for a character in my story, and it’s a recessive trait. How hard is this to pass through a population?” “Gene editing is super cool! If I have a creature that has been edited to have X trait, what’s the best way to do that? Can I make it so it doesn’t work perfectly?” “Can a DNA test tell how closely related you are to someone?” “Is CSI accurate when they talk about DNA sequencing? Can you actually put DNA in a machine and have it print out the sequence immediately?” But I’m not going to be so great at: “I have my characters/critters living in X environment. What sort of adaptations would you expect?” I can make a very educated guess about that, but it’s certainly not my strong suit!

I am also going to be upfront with a few ground rules that apply to me as a mod:

I will always try to use the most respectful language possible. I believe that everything and everyone should approached with all the kindness that I possess, and if you believe that I haven’t done so, send me an ask about it. I would much rather that you approach me directly rather than hide your discomfort in the tags of a reblog or something similar.

I reserve the right to not answer an ask if I deem it inappropriate, or if it has decidedly exclusionary or hateful language.

I will not help you with homework questions. Quite honestly, chances are I won’t get to them in time (and I am very immune to “NEED RESPONSE QUICK” messages), and some of the questions asked do require research on my part to give the best answer, which takes time.

There are quite a few questions related to incest, even if it’s not direct. I will always tag this as “tw: incest” and “incest”, and will also tag “consanguinity” if it’s less of a direct question, and more along the lines of “how distantly do you have to be related before you aren’t related anymore”. I understand that this is a sensitive and taboo topic, and everyone deserves the right to control their internet experience.

I cannot diagnose any genetic disease. I am not a doctor, and I am definitely not your doctor. Everything answer I offer is purely hypothetical.

On that note, genetics is a field that is updating at a brutally fast pace. The answers I give are to the best of my knowledge, however, always take them with a grain of salt. Science is about progress, and there is definitely a chance that something I say will be outdated or proven incorrect.

Whew. Okay, that’s over. I’m not a huge fan of rules, but I think that these are some good and necessary ones. I’m so excited to start on this blog with all of you! Send me your best questions and I will give you my best answers! <3 emdee P.S. I have queued up a few of the asks that were waiting already, just so we have some content to go off of. I’ll keep plugging away at those, but don’t worry! Send in new ones, and I’ll get a good mix of the old and new as we go.